BREAKING: Rep. Conyers introduces bill to repeal the sequester

You read that right. Action from a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. The bill is H.R. 900, introduced today (February 28) and it’s a Big Deal. Now the House has something to vote on, and the House Progressive Caucus has something to support. The bill — just cancel the sequester.

“Section 251A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is repealed.”

A way out out of this mess, for now anyway, and a clean one. If the president hates the sequester as much as he claims to, this will be easy for him to support, won’t it.

Huge props to John Conyers for providing a bold (and simple) solution. For more on “cancel the sequester,” see here. For how the sequester is just one more manufactured crisis, see here (one place of many).

How you can help

■ The bill needs co-sponsors. Feel free to call your Congress guy or gal and make the request. A full list of House phone numbers is at the link. A full list of House Progressive Caucus members (with phone numbers) will appear in this space in the next few days. Feel free to call. Every CPC member who co-sponsors this bill is an action-hero, not just a statement-hero. You can say so when you thank them.

■ There needs to be a Senate bill. A full list of Senate phone numbers is here. I’d start with Senator Merkley and Senator Sanders, since Merkley has already come out in favor of “cancel the sequester” and I imagine Sen. Sanders is in full agreement.

■ Finally, here’s a sweet list of vulnerable Republican House members, those sitting in districts won by Obama in 2012. They can be lobbied to support this; after all, voting to cut benefits to programs like Social Security and Medicare has got to be frightening indeed to these men and women. Worth a call? I think so.

I’ll have call lists in the next few days. In the meantime, thank John Conyers. He richly deserves it.

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It is not all that surprising that John Coyners made this move. He’s a really decent guy. More of his kind in Congress is badly needed. I hope some donations follow his good deed to offset the funds the DNC will pull from him.

hollywoodstein

Obama wants the drama so he can bargain his Grand Bargains.

hollywoodstein

Finally!

Indigo

No. We need the drama.

GaiusPublius

Thanks all for the comments. Time to move on this. I’ll put up call lists, either this weekend or early next week. Cosponsors, Senators, Teaparty types.

I understand that some of the insiders might be working the defense contractors to get behind this as well. This is doable, folks.

GP

DCinDC

This is the right move. People need to get behind this bill!

Naja pallida

A Progressive Caucus member actually did something? I thought they were just there for show.

Oddly, my Rep. isn’t on that list. Not really a surprise I guess, seeing that his district was basically created specifically for him.

nicho

Just fired off an email to my Rep. and for the first time in 12 years, I’m pretty sure he’ll read it.